Jeremy Roenick Praises Patrick Marleau After Game 7, Says He Gave ‘Tough Love’

The San Jose Sharks avoided the embarrassment of becoming the fourth NHL team in the history of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to blow a 3-0 lead by defeating the Red Wings 3-2 in Game 7. Patrick Marleau, who failed to record a point the first six games of the series, scored the game-winning goal in the third period. Marleau was able to shut up his critics with the most important goal of the series, the loudest of whom was Jeremy Roenick.

Following San Jose’s Game 5 loss, Versus analyst and former San Jose Sharks player Jeremy Roenick ripped Marleau on air calling him heartless and gutless. Roenick received a tremendous amount of backlash from folks in San Jose, and you could tell he was feeling badly for his comments. During the first intermission, Roenick seemed to go out of his way to praise Marleau. Then after the game, following Marleau’s game-winner, he was asked if he wanted to apologize to Marleau. Here’s what he said:

Attributing comments to “tough love” is the classic line writers and broadcasters can use to defend their outlandish behavior. We saw Bill Plaschke use the same excuse when he wrote a pathetic column on Lamar Odom during the Hornets series. While nobody will accuse Roenick of being loyal to San Jose, I never thought his analysis was off. It may have been disloyal and unpopular, but that doesn’t mean it was inaccurate. There was no reason for him to apologize, and as much as I dislike Roenick, he handled the situation just fine. And you know what Sharks fans? If you’re upset about the analysis, be proud that the team one. Maybe the criticism is what Marleau needed to bring out his best game.

Stick tap to Puck Daddy for pulling and sharing the video